China's vice minister of commerce Li Chenggang states, according to the state news agency New China, that the parties have reached a "basic framework" to solve the problems surrounding Tiktok in the USA.
President Donald Trump signaled earlier on Monday that his government had agreed with China on Tiktok, without saying it directly. He also announced that he will talk to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday.
The US finance minister Scott Bessent describes it as the USA and China having a "framework" in place to solve the Tiktok issue.
American ownership
The statements came in connection with the second day of trade negotiations between the USA and China in the Spanish capital Madrid.
The goal of the agreement for the American part is to give Tiktok American ownership, notes Bessent.
We will not say anything about the business terms of the agreement. It is between two private parties. But the business terms are agreed upon, he says at a press conference.
But, adds Bessent, there are many other issues that are unresolved.
The Chinese delegation is led by vice premier He Lifeng and according to Bessent, He has pushed aggressively in many issues.
According to the US trade minister Jamieson Greer, the trade talks are fundamentally focused on the imbalances in trade flows between the USA and China, the world's two largest economies. But he says that he currently does not see any way forward to solve it.
Possible meeting in October
The meeting in Madrid is held ahead of what may be a meeting between Trump and Xi in October. The two cooperative organizations Asean and Apec will then hold major summit meetings in Malaysia and South Korea, respectively. If Trump and Xi participate, they are also expected to hold separate bilateral talks, but nothing is confirmed.
The Trump administration has demanded that Tiktok's owner, Chinese Bytedance, sell Tiktok in the USA. The current deadline for an agreement expires on Wednesday.
